Shalimar Auto Ancillary Vs. Collr. of C. Ex. - Court Judgment

Excerpt:

.....case, the dispute is regarding the classification of body building on the duty paid chassis of motor vehicles. the respondents classified the manufacturing of body building under heading no. 87.01, 87.03 and 87.04 of the central excise tariff act, 1985. we find that the matter is covered by the judgment of hon'ble high court of punjab & haryana in the case of darshan singh paviter singh and ors. v. u.o.i - 1988 (34) e.l.t. 631 (p & h) the hon'ble high court had held that the persons, who only build or fabricate bodies for buses and trucks on the chassis supplied by their customers do not manufacture motor vehicles.they only manufacture bodies of motor vehicles and their cases are fully covered by heading no.87.07 of the central excise tariff act, 1985 and the notification 175/86-c.e. exempt the goods i.e. bodies of motor vehicles falling under this category. this judgement is confirmed by the hon'ble division bench of the punjab & haryana in the case of union of india v. darshan singh paviter singh -1990 (47) e.l.t. 532 (p & h).5. the ratio of the above judgments of punjab & haryan high court is fully applicable in the present appeals and following the.....

Judgment:

1. These three appeals involve common question of law, hence they are taken-up together. The appellants, M/s. Sree Karuna Lorry and Bus Body Bldg. Works and M/s. Shalimar Auto Ancillary Industries (Pvt.) Ltd. made a request to decide their appeal on merits. The appellant, M/s.

Vishal Equipments requested for transfer of their appeal to the Madras Bench of CEGAT. The matter is covered, hence, we decline the request for transfer of the appeal to the Madras Bench and decide to take-up the matter on merits.

2. The appellants filed their appeals against the orders passed by the Collector of Central Excise (Appeals) in which he had held that body built motor vehicles cleared by the appellants are covered under Heading Nos. 87.02, 87.03 or 87.04 and the small scale exemption under Notification No. 175/86-C.E., dated 1-3-86 does not cover the body building activities of motor vehicles. The said exemption is not applicable in the case of present appellants.

3. Shri M. Jayaraman, SDR appeared on behalf of the respondents/Revenue.

4. In this case, the dispute is regarding the classification of body building on the duty paid chassis of motor vehicles. The respondents classified the manufacturing of body building under Heading No. 87.01, 87.03 and 87.04 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985. We find that the matter is covered by the judgment of Hon'ble High Court of Punjab & Haryana in the case of Darshan Singh Paviter Singh and Ors. v. U.O.I - 1988 (34) E.L.T. 631 (P & H) The Hon'ble High Court had held that the persons, who only build or fabricate bodies for buses and trucks on the chassis supplied by their customers do not manufacture motor vehicles.

They only manufacture bodies of motor vehicles and their cases are fully covered by Heading No.87.07 of the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 and the Notification 175/86-C.E. exempt the goods i.e. bodies of motor vehicles falling under this category. This judgement is confirmed by the Hon'ble Division Bench of the Punjab & Haryana in the case of Union of India v. Darshan Singh Paviter Singh -1990 (47) E.L.T. 532 (P & H).

5. The ratio of the above judgments of Punjab & Haryan High Court is fully applicable in the present appeals and following the ratio of the judgment, we set aside the impugned orders and three appeals are allowed. Ordered accordingly.